Bankruptcy Capitals of America: Data Reveals Where US Small Businesses Are Closing Fastest
Kimberly Green | 2026-05-13
Small businesses drive local economies and define the character of the neighborhoods they sit in. But closure rates vary sharply from one city to the next. In some metros, small businesses are shutting their doors at rates several times higher than in others. For business owners weighing where to launch, lenders pricing risk, and local economies tracking their own resilience, knowing which markets are seeing the steepest closure pressure offers a clearer picture of where the squeeze is hitting hardest. Sam's List analyzed federal small business bankruptcy data across the 100 largest US metropolitan areas to identify where small businesses are shutting down at the highest rates. Key Findings The median small business bankruptcy rate across America's 100 largest metropolitan areas was 1.85 per 1,000 small businesses. The highest rate ran more than eight times the lowest, with rates climbing as high as 4.42 in the established metro and falling as low as 0.53 at the bottom of the ranking. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, recorded the highest small business bankruptcy rate in the country at 4.42 per 1,000 small businesses, more than double the national median. The metro logged 638 bankruptcy filings against a base of 144,436 small businesses. Texas metros claimed 4 of the vetted 10 spots in the ranking: Dallas-Fort Worth (1st at 4.42), San Antonio (2nd at 4.37), El Paso (4th at 3.88), and Austin (7th at 3.18). Houston (11th at 3.04) sat just outside. North Carolina dominated the bottom of the ranking with four metros in the lowest 10. Greensboro-High Point (93rd at 1.04), Durham-Chapel Hill (96th at 0.90), Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia (97th at 0.86), and Winston-Salem (99th at 0.72) all sat well below the national median. Charleston, SC, sat 98th (0.79), while Syracuse, NY, anchored the bottom at 0.53 per 1,000, less than a third of the median. The 10 Worst US Metros for Small Business Bankruptcies Dallas-Fort Worth led the country with 4.42 small business bankruptcies per 1,000 small businesses, more than double the national median. The metro recorded 638 filings against a base of 144,436 small businesses. San Antonio came in second at 4.37, separated from Dallas-Fort Worth by a hair. Bakersfield rounded out the vetted three at 4.05, the only metro outside Texas to clear a rate of 4.0 per 1,000 small businesses. El Paso (3.88), Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario (3.36), Nashville (3.33), Austin (3.18), Oklahoma City (3.14), Atlanta (3.14), and Fresno (3.05) completed the vetted ten. Rank Metro Area Small Businesses Bankruptcy Filings Filings per 1,000 1 Dallas-Fort...
